European Commission says TikTok violates Digital Services Act, risking mega fine
The European Commission has determined Chinese-owned social-media app TikTok violated European online content rules about transparency in who pays for advertisements.
Bureaucracy
Latest reporting and analysis on bureaucracy.
Farmers welcome EU agriculture reforms
A year on from the sight of tractors clogging the streets of European capitals and demands to "cut the red tape" the European Commission's proposed reforms to EU…
Lavish EU staff allowances soar, leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab
Massive increases of up to 38 per cent in European Union bureaucrat expense entitlements has been likened to staff bank accounts "being stuffed full of Euros from…
PfizerGate: EU Court says von der Leyen wrong to keep vaccine negotiation details secret
The European General Court has criticised that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for refusing to disclose text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO…
Mainstream media ‘closes ranks around Cardinal Parolin’, despite concerns
Conservative Catholics have warned that the mainstream media was presenting Cardinal Parolin, former Vatican Secretary of State, as the favourite to take over the…
Collapsed German inner-city bridge may take 10 years to rebuild
An important inner-city bridge in Dresden, Germany, that unexpectedly collapsed late last autumn will probably not be rebuilt before 2035 – despite earlier claims…
German city of Bonn abandons plan for ‘living-space tax’
The German city of Bonn has abandoned plans for the introduction of a new tax to incentivise people to abandon flats and houses considered “too large” for them.
Bpost fined for sacking CEO who flagged fraud
Belgium’s leading postal service, Bpost, which is majority-owned by the Belgian Government, unlawfully dismissed its CEO in 2022 after he reported the misuse of…
German judiciary ‘ignored prosecutor’s alleged drug-mafia co-operation’
The public prosecutor’s office in Hanover stands accused of ignoring indications that one of its employees, a State prosecutor named as "Yashar G" by German media,…
European Commission pushes for encryption ‘backdoors’
The European Commission has announced new plans for extending the powers of European Union security agencies and expanding Europol into “a truly operational police…
‘EC denies transparency on NGO funding,’ claim MEPs
Conservative MEPs looking for more transparency regarding European Union funding for activist NGOs said they had the door slammed in their faces by the European…
EU visitors applying for new UK visit requirement complain app does not work
European Union-based travellers have faced a new requirement to pay £16 (€19) for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK from April — but…
EU staff receive 7th salary increase since 2022
Starting in April, approximately 66,000 employees with European institutions will receive their seventh pay rise in just three years.
Passenger misery ahead: Almost all German airports to be hit by strikes
Almost all of Germany's airports will be hit by a 24-hour strike after trade union Verdi called for employees in the public sector and ground handling to walk…
Macron’s top adviser faces legal action for refusing to testify in public-debt probe
French President Emmanuel Macron’s top adviser, Alexis Kohler, was facing legal action after repeatedly refusing to testify before a French parliamentary committee…
France’s National Rally says EU’s €800bn defence ‘rearm’ plan is a power grab
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been accused of attempting to grab more power for Brussels after unveiling a "rearm Europe" plan based on…
US sees Europe caught in inertia and bureaucracy, obsolete and utterly stunned
JD Vance’s speech in Munich, universally condemned by those accustomed to the bureaucratic doublespeak of the Biden administration, is ultimately just the latest…
Italian Embassy staff in Bangladesh arrested in alleged visas-for-bribes scandal
Rome Public Prosecutor's Office has uncovered alleged bribery and illicit visa trafficking among staff at the Italian Embassy in Bangladesh.
Haunted by the euro-ghost of Hallstein: the power to collect direct EU taxes
The European Commission finds itself in a bit of a pickle.
Donald copies Donald: Polish PM calls in billionaire to cut red tape
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has drafted in billionaire countryman Rafał Brzoska to head a task force to deregulate the economy as part of the government’s…
EC found bankrolling pressure groups to lobby against industry
European Union taxpayers' money has been used to fund fringe groups actively lobbying against EU policies.
German vice-chancellor’s brother under fire for alleged public funds ‘mismanagement’
The younger brother of Germany’s vice-chancellor and economics minister Robert Habeck (Greens), has come under fire for alleged wasteful spending of taxpayer money.
EPP wants EU’s ‘bureaucracy burden’ cut to boost competitiveness
The European People’s Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, has sounded an alarm regarding what it saw as the European Union’s regulatory…
Former EC tech chief Thierry Breton gets top lobbying job, skipping two-year waiting period
Thierry Breton, the EU's Internal Market Commissioner and tech enforcer until September 2024, has received special approval from the European Commission to start…
Imperialism not a replacement for good governance, it is its consequence
In this third and final part of our series on neo-Imperialism I would like to start with the most important observation: Successful and lasting imperialism is a…
EU ombudsman slams EC for ‘maladministration’ over ‘egregious’ €28 million project document delay
The EU Ombudsman accused the European Commission of "maladministration", after it took seventeen months to give public access to documents about a €28 million…
Fire rips across California because of gender ratios and ethnic quotas
The recent wildfires that have ravaged California are nothing short of apocalyptic -- countless homes and acres of forest turned to ash, tens of lives lost and thousands…
EU court orders EC to compensate citizen for violating its own protection laws
The General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union has directed the European Commission to compensate an individual who alleged his personal data was…
German magazine attacks rival for publishing Musk op-ed
A major German news website has attacked one of its main rivals over its competitor's decision to publish an article written by Elon Musk.
Polish Government denies corruption allegations regarding visas for Filipinos
The Polish foreign ministry has denied allegations in the Philippines that appointment slots for Polish visas were being sold at exorbitant rates in the South East…